Whatever happened to being in the military being a respectable profession?

Question

It was not to long ago that people would give play salutes from down the street,and the ladies liked a man in uniform,folks would respect you because you were putting your life on the line for your country and what you belived in,even folks who did not belive in war could respect that.So what happend,I think it happend after Vietnam with "babykiller",or mabye we have been on top to long and have not had a good scare in a while.Opinons?

Don't get mad at me I still respect people in the military,I am probably joining too,but all I am saying is I keep seeing negative things about our troops,like a few days ago when someone asked how many marines have raped iraquis,or how many marines have paid for sex.

Answer 1

i blame media and people that dont research the facts and go shooting there mouth off like a loaded gun the media reports moore bad than anything good about soliders and the bad is what sells moore than the good i wish people would turn off there tv for once

people dont see soliders as a human being any moore soliders have lives and they breath, eats,loves along with a family a wife a kid that they just wanted them to have a better life than what there fate told them they were going to have they see the solider as a political pawn in a sick game.

i believe in freedom of speech i know that soliders along with many other people have died for it but i do not beleive in the abuse of the freedom of speech and that is what others are doing.

Answer 2

I think that being disrespectful to our men in uniform is just a sign of IGNORANCE. They are easy to blame for completing missions that they personally have NO control over.

Our government has a plan that filters down through the command chain and is implemented by the troops WITHOUT QUESTION.

It is just easy for the IGNORANT to place blame on the implementor of the tactic.

The Internet and News have just brought too many specifics to people that can NOT completely digest the news and draw incomplete conclusions based upon one or a few people that may be biased.

It just does NOT take much intelligence to blame a Military Professional for a strategy that one does not support.

True, many of our Military Men and Woman are there for reasons NOT associated with protecting our country; could not get a job, education, three squares or figured the NG was a little extra cash in the bank for not a lot of work.

They are STILL there, following orders and COMPLETING THE MISSION.

They should ALL be respected, PERIOD!

USN 1963-1964 in country
"Honorary" Marine Corps DI

Answer 3

I think most everyone is for and deeply respects the troops both abroad and here in the states. Sadly though if you dislike the war and oppose the powers that put us there, you are considered anti military. I am 12 years Army and a combat vet and served down in Iraq. I have to disagree with those that say we aren't respected. Talk to someone you may think hates the military or those in it. I am better you will find them very appreciative of those who serve...they just dont want the war going on anymore and in reality who does? How many years will it take? And, how many wasted lives.

Answer 4

I believe it all started going downhill during the last year or so of Vietnam. My husband spent 25 years in the Marine Corps and he was a respected man until that time. People know that some wars are not worth american lives and this war is one of those. We as an american Army cannot and should not try to umpire a civil war and thats what we are doing now. Had we went to Iraq and allowed the Iraqis to keep and retrain their exsisiting Army, we would not have had to deal with what we are dealing with now. That was just one of the hundreds of mistakes made by this administration. I see and end to this war in about 10 years or sooner if we just get out.

Answer 5

Our Nation lost its respect for service-members in the Vietnam era.
And, you won't see any "Rapper's" enlisting.
Hell, Elvis served.
The people are apathetic about the nature of this conflict and its "W's" fault.
I'm for the "Draft" and I'm within the 36% that, believes it must be reinstated. We will only preserve our freedoms through sacrifice. This generation is despondent.
The "War on Terrorism" is really a war against an ideology.
Islamic Extremism is bullet-proof and its based on Jihad.
Once Americans get behind the idea that, this war will be pro-tracted if not ended soon. The sooner we can do what's necessary to impose our will.

Answer 6

I think our founders made a basic mistake when they established a professional military. A much better system is a highly armed well-trained citizen militia, in which everybody serves, and a state-of-the-art gun in every home.

Israel gives lip service to this ideal but in practice falls short, such as exemptions from service given to religious students, and denying access to the military to their subjugated Palestinian residents and second-class citizens.

Switzerland has a defense system built on the requirement that every man be armed, and a full auto weapon maintained in every home. This works, and they have not been invaded since Napoleon's time.

But take note that they absolutely will not send their forces outside their borders. Not even to Bosnia, let alone Iraq. They remain outside NATO and the UN and concentrate on minding their own business.

When I was there I met some uniformed Swiss soldiers. I noticed that their uniforms were really tacky cheap cloth, with totally cheesy buttons. So I asked my Swiss girlfriend - your country is one of the richest in the world, so why do you treat your soldiers like this? Don't you respect your troops?

Thanks to her explanation, I figured it out.

When defense is everybody's responsibility, as in Switzerland, and not just delegated to a professional military, it us not then a profession of glamor. Defense is just something that needs to be done and every person is equally responsible for carrying it out. They do not need slogans like "support out troops" because each and every one of them *is* the troops.

Swiss citizens will defend Switzerland just like carrying out the garbage and sweeping the streets. It is not glamorized as an occupation of heroes. It is just what everyone does when it needs to be done. And it is a system that works.

A highly armed and trained civilian population *required* to keep and bear arms. No foreign adventures. No allies or alliances or coalitions of the allegedly "willing." Full concentration on domestic security and domestic prosperity.

And the starting point is the principle underlying our Second Amendment: Trust the people.

Answer 7

I think our society in general has bought into the feminist idea that we're somehow all the same, and that being overtly feminine is bad because it's "fake".... and being overtly "masculine" is bad... because men are bad.

However, I think there are very few people who actually express that they don't respect our men and women in uniform. When I'm out with my son, people approach him all the time thanking him for his service, asking what his MOS is, checking to make sure he got home safely. It's awesome the support he gets from complete strangers!!

The thing is, the media has bought into and continues to show video of wacko protesters, because controversy sells.

Answer 8

The military is one of the most honorable professions there is. Just remember, the next time you read one of those derogatory remarks about the military, there are some people on here who think the conflict in Iraq is about ET's returning to earth. Yes, I'm serious.

Military, I salute you.

Answer 9

That decline is more like a sine wave. The most recent that you refer to began during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and hit an all time low in the Carter era. Things began to look up again with Reagan :U.S. 2, Libya 0. It fell again with the Clinton administration...

Answer 10

I fully support our troops

I posted a question on supporting our troops and someone turned in for violation and it was removed i guess they did not like that i care what happens to our men in uniform and wanted to know who else did to